Missed opportunities. Ever have one (or two)?  Missed opportunities come and go, and all one can do is lament about what could have been. Well, the Steamboat Gang certainly was at the right place at the right time. When I heard that the Steamboat Gang enjoyed a week of fresh powder there was a missed opportunity. I’ve been to Steamboat on ski week trips several times and the champagne powder has always eluded me. From what I’ve heard, it sounds like everyone had a great time skiing powder and enjoying the slopes. Now, I’m sure there were skiers on that trip that said, “I don’t know how to ski powder”. Hopefully, after skiing several days in that white, fluffy stuff you can now say “I skied powder, and I liked it!” Of course, now that you’ve tasted the champagne, powder skiing in Tahoe will never be the same.

Karen Soo, our Trip Director, tells me that Trip #2 is going and that’s good news for everyone. After Trip #1 was cancelled there was major concerns about future weekend ski trips. But, everyone rallied and now Nisei is going to Alpine Meadows and Northstar the first weekend of March. The snow is still pretty good up there so it should be good skiing, and Sidney Mar now has a chance to try out his new skis/boots.

As for me, well, I’ll be in Innsbruck, Austria from 2-10 March. I’ve skied quite a few places in Austria but this will be my first trip to Innsbruck. There are about 6-7 ski areas and I’m looking forward to new territory, meeting some friends I met with FWSA last year, and perhaps an opportunity for me to practice my non-fluent German.

28 people signed up for the NSC Week Trip to Steamboat Springs,Jan 26 – Feb 2, 2013. Due to medical issues, three people dropped out right before the trip, so only 25 people arrived at Steamboat.  We had a quick shuttle ride, 40 minutes, from Hayden (HDN) airport to our condos at The Ranch.

I’ve always heard of the fabled Champagne Powder.  I’ve skied over 20 years and I’ve never seen the light fluffy snow that you see in the Colorado Travel Ski Videos.  I once asked Dan Lew about this fabled power and he said he’s only seen it twice in his many many years of skiing.

In Dec, Steamboat had 100” of snow, but nothing until the week we arrived.  It snowed 2” the first night we were there and we got to make fresh tracks on our first day of skiing.

 

Then it snowed 14” the next day and I got to experience Champagne Powder. I was skiing in powder up to my hips and it was as light as air.  At one point, I tried to write NSC in the snow and I was only able to push the whole pile with only my finger tip and it was so light, I couldn’t feel the snow and I was only left with a bit of moisture and a breath of coldness on my finger tip as proof that I had touched it.

It continued to snow the rest of the week.  On Thursday morning, we had 24.5” of fresh powder (see photo).  We got Champagne Powder the WHOLE week.   I think we got a total of 45” the week we were there.  Thursday was the day the locals from Denver showed up, they skied until noon – where all the powder on the groomed runs was trampled down to packed powder, but the powder was still in between the trees.

 

On one run that was rutted out, I avoided one jump, but didn’t see the second one and wound up tumbling.  While in the air, I thought it was going to hurt when I crashed, but when I hit, it was like landing on a feather comforter.  I was not jarred and it was painless, pleasantly surprised, I just laid down in the snow and enjoyed the experience.

 

Snowboarders jumped 20 foot drops, crash landed, tumbled, and popped-up unhurt.  It was amazing.

 

The condos were great, the snow was great, and I had a great time skiing with all the NSCers on the trip.

 

I’d also like to thank the people on the trip for giving me such wonderful Thank You gifts.  The tablet and fleece have been getting more use than any other gift I’ve ever gotten.

 

You guys are all great and I know this is one of those once in twenty year experiences.

 

Thanks,

Morgan Hua

View the trip photos here: https://www.niseiskiclub.org/photos/